For the past decade, the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS) has been part of an alliance seeking to improve geography education in the state. Recently, that group's efforts received a major boost with the establishment of the $1 million Connecticut Fund for Geography Education.
The fund, which will support the teaching of geography to the state's primary and secondary school students, was created through an agreement between the National Geographic Society (NGS) Education Fund and the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority.
Establishing a permanent endowment supporting geography education has been one of the major goals of the Connecticut Geographic Alliance (CGA), a coalition established by the University of Connecticut's geography department, the State Department of Education and YCIAS. The group's goals include improving student mastery of geography, providing information and teacher training in geography, and offering in-service programs that use geography to address a broad range of interdisciplinary environmental and international issues. During the past 10 years, CGA has initiated a range of activities to achieve these goals, with grants from the NGS and funds from state, federal, foundation and private sources.
During the first three years, as the Connecticut Fund for Geography Education builds up, income from the endowment will be used to support and expand the activities of CGA. These include:
* The Geography Bee, a statewide competition for grades 6-8.
* The Geography Olympiad, a statewide competition for high school student teams.
* The Family Geography Challenge, a school-based program that encourages families to watch the news together and identify the locations of newsworthy events.
* Enrichment programs for Connecticut youth on environmental and international topics, including Geographic Information Systems, Earth 2U, and web-based learning.
* Summer and advanced institutes on geography, international studies and environmental issues for K-12 teachers and administrators.
* In-service training programs for teachers in schools.
Once the fund is fully established, between $50,000 and $100,000 annually is expected to be available to support geography education in the state. The CGA will provide the essential programmatic and operational base for the fund.
The NGS -- under the leadership of its chair, Gilbert Grosvenor '54 B.A. -- has been a strong supporter of geography education nationwide. Connecticut is the seventh state to receive an endowment from the NGS Education Fund.
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